Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks Volume 3

REPLACEMENT SHIPPING UPDATE (October 22, 2012):
The replacement units for Dave's Picks: Volume 3 have begun to ship out to those that reported their order missing.
We again apologize for the delay and inconvenience, and we thank you for your patience.
Sincerely,
The Dead.net Team

DAVE’S PICKS VOL.3 FEATURES SHOWS FROM KEITH’S FIRST TOUR!

This product is officially SOLD OUT. Stay tuned for news on Dave's Picks Volume 4.

In all the years that archival Grateful Dead recordings have been coming out, there have been just three from the red-hot fall of 1971, Keith Godchaux’s landmark first tour with the band. Those would be Dick’s Picks Vol. 2, a rippin’ single-disc release of the second set of the group’s Halloween show at the Ohio Theatre in Columbus, Download Series Vol. 3 from the 10/26 Rochester show and Road Trips Vol. 3 No. 2 from November 15, 1971 in Austin, Texas. Now there is a fourth: Dave’s Picks Vol. 3 features the complete October 22, 1971 concert from the beautiful Auditorium Theatre in Chicago on two discs, with a third disc culled from the previous night’s scorcher at the same venue.

Keith came into the band in mid-September ’71, at a time when Pigpen was desperately ill and the band was hungering for something new to help fill out their sound. A sparkling pianist, Keith was a complete unknown at the time, yet, miraculously it seemed, fit in with the Dead immediately. The live “Skull & Roses” double-album (recorded in the winter-spring of ’71) had just come out, and the band was still enjoying a surge of unprecedented popularity since Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty were released the previous year. They were on a roll!

Never ones to rest on their laurels, however, the band continued their torrid pace of introducing new songs: “Sugaree” and “Brown-Eyed Women” first appeared in the summer of ’71, and that fall, when the band with Keith hit the road, starting out in Minneapolis (10/19) and then moving on to Chicago (10/21-22), they had a whole bunch of other freshly minted tunes waiting to be born—“Tennessee Jed,” “Jack Straw,” “Mexicali Blues,” “Ramble On Rose,” “Comes A Time” and “One More Saturday Night,” all of which appear on this set.

The sparkle and verve that Keith brought to the band is immediately apparent, as he tears through rockers and bouncy mid-tempo numbers with the confidence of someone who had been playing this music forever. If the quiet keyboardist was nervous or unsure of himself on this first jaunt, it certainly wasn’t apparent. And you can feel the electricity in the rest of the band, as Jerry, Phil, Bob and Bill absorb and play off of the amazingly inventive musings of their new recruit. Of course Pigpen’s absence was deeply felt (and the band acknowledged it at every stop), but Keith’s entrance was so seamless and the energy he injected into the music so impressive, the group didn’t appear to lose any of the momentum they had been building tour after tour.

The songs are a blend of old, still-recent (from Workingman’s Dead on) and brand-new. One forgets that crowd-pleasers such as “Bertha,” “Deal” and “Playing in the Band” had come into the repertoire only eight months earlier, and “Truckin’” and “Sugar Magnolia” were just over a year old. Even a bunch of the cover tunes were relatively recent additions—“Big Railroad Blues,” “Me & Bobby McGee” and “Johnny B. Goode.” Keith handles all of those (and earlier chestnuts like “Cold Rain and Snow” and “Beat It On Down the Line”) with his characteristic aplomb, but perhaps most impressive is how he fares on the Dead’s big jamming numbers. On Disc Two, you’ll hear his thoughtful and inventive contributions to a truly stellar, 29-minute version of “That’s It for the Other One.” And on Disc Three (from 10/21), listen to him as he navigates through a spectacular “Dark Star,” which is split by a spirited romp through “Sitting on Top of the World.” The encore of 10/21 also features the first of only three “old school” (pre-hiatus) versions of “St. Stephen” Keith played on.

Most of the 12,000 limited edition copies of Dave’s Picks Vol. 3 are already spoken for by subscribers to the series, but there are a still a few thousand available through Dead.net only. These will definitely sell out—and fast—so if you want make sure you get your copy, order today! As always, the 3-CD set has been lovingly mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman from the original vault reels, and the eco-friendly Digipak includes a booklet with an essay about the show and, in this case, some very cool photos of the interior of Chicago’s historic Auditorium Theatre. For the complete song lists and ordering info, click here.

—Blair Jackson

If you haven't received your copy of Dave's Picks: Volume 3, please see our note at the top of the page.

Comments

Vernon - are you just joshing us about the 9/24/76 thing? I can't find anything about it...

This reminded me of the shifting list of dates which appeared on the screen in the first couple of weeks that Dave's Picks was announced (1/22/78, etc). I recall that at least one person managed to write them down and posted them.... but now I can't find that anywhere either. Was anyone smart enough to save that?

I realize that all of these releases are designed to sell out and be collector's items, however is there any chance that the road trips series as well as the new daves picks will ever be uploaded to the Itunes music store like the extensive dicks picks collection already available for download (at very reasonable prices i might add)??? For me, it is all about the music and I would hate to anyone to miss out...

I'd like another 1993 show - if Spring 1990 was the last great run then Spring 93 ran it close with a burst of enthusiasm for all the then new songs. March 17, 1993 is a good one. I agree we could probably lay off the 71-79 period for a while even though it is my favourite. I wonder how much really early material is releasable?

I predict...Orphium Theater 1976. A wild guess and I hope I'm right but if not, that Portland 74 show Dave mentioned many months ago would be absolutely HUGE.
On the other hand, maybe, because of all the recent shipping and communications problems they decide to throw us a bone and send a full show on CD along with a DVD--the Soldier Field 91 show that Dave likes would be perfect.
Dave is 3 for 3 so far, so I'm guessing the next release will be good.
Let's just hope that shipping and customer service, and above all, communication, is up to the task.

I predict...Orphium Theater 1976. A wild guess and I hope I'm right but if not, that Portland 74 show Dave mentioned many months ago would be absolutely HUGE.
On the other hand, maybe, because of all the recent shipping and communications problems they decide to throw us a bone and send a full show on CD along with a DVD--the Soldier Field 91 show that Dave likes would be perfect.
Dave is 3 for 3 so far, so I'm guessing the next release will be good.
Let's just hope that shipping and customer service, and above all, communication, is up to the task.

An '84 show would be a cool! It's a completely unrepresented year, besides one track from the So Many Roads set and one bonus track on the re-issue of In The Dark.

If it's a Pigpen era show thats picked, I always welcome those with open arms and ears, especially '68-'70. I have to admit that I would almost prefer a Vince (with or without Bruce) show over another Keith & Donna release at this juncture, unless it's finally 8/27/72.

Since recieving my copy of the Spring '90 box, I haven't been able to bring myself to listen to anything else by the Dead, including most of DaP4. The '90 box is just way too awesome! An '84 show might be enough to peel me away from the box for a minute.

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